John Biddle (Michigan)
Encyclopedia
John Biddle was a delegate
to the United States Congress
from the Michigan Territory
.
in 1792, the son of Charles Biddle
, former Vice President of Pennsylvania, and nephew of Commodore Nicholas Biddle
. He attended the common schools before entering and graduating from Princeton College. At the outbreak of the War of 1812
, Biddle enlisted in the U.S. Army
and was appointed a second lieutenant in the Third Artillery on July 6, 1812 and promoted to first lieutenant March 13, 1813. He was attached to the staff of General Winfield Scott
on the Niagara Frontier
for most of the war. He became captain in the Forty-second Infantry October 1, 1813, served as assistant inspector general with the rank of major from June 19, 1817 to June 1, 1821, and commanded Fort Shelby
in Detroit for some time.
After leaving the military, Biddle was appointed paymaster and Indian agent at Green Bay, Wisconsin
in 1821 and 1822. He was register of the land at Detroit, Michigan
in of Michigan Territory, 1823–1837; commissioner for determining the ancient land claims at Detroit, Mackinaw
, Sault Ste. Marie
, Green Bay, and Prairie du Chien
.
He married Eliza Falconer Bradish (1795–1865) of New York. The couple had four children that lived to adulthood: Margaretta Falconer Biddle (1825–1913), William Shepard Biddle (1830–1901), Major James Biddle (1833–1905) and Edward John Biddle (1836–1892).
was in the minority. He ran unsuccessfully as the Whig candidate for election to the United States Senate
and later for Governor of Michigan
. Biddle was a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives
in 1841 and served as speaker, and was a Trustee of the University of Michigan
.
Biddle was president of the Michigan Central Railroad
. He also served as the first President of Farmers’ and Mechanics’ Bank, and was a bank Director from 1829 through 1838. He was also active in the civic life of Detroit, being elected Vice President of the Detroit Athenaeum, active in the Association for Promoting Female Education in the City of Detroit, and Vice President (1828–1837) and President (1837) of the Historical Society of Michigan.
how sits.
. In 1853, he sold the Wyandotte estate to Eber Ward of Eureka Iron, who developed the area into the city of Wyandotte, Michigan
. Jefferson Avenue
, which stretches from New Baltimore
, Michigan
to East Rockwood, Michigan
, is named Biddle Avenue through Wyandotte.
After selling the Wyandotte estate, Biddle and his wife returned to Philadelphia, and later the couple spent much time in Paris
. In 1859, Biddle went to White Sulphur Springs
in what is now West Virginia, for the summer, and died there. He is interred in Elmwood Cemetery
, Detroit, Michigan.
His grandson (William Shepard Biddle's son), also named John Biddle
(1859–1936) became Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
.
Delegate (United States Congress)
A delegate to Congress is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected from a U.S. territory and from Washington, D.C. to a two-year term. While unable to vote in the full House, a non-voting delegate may vote in a House committee of which the delegate is a member...
to the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
from the Michigan Territory
Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...
.
Early life and military career
Biddle was born in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in 1792, the son of Charles Biddle
Charles Biddle
Charles Biddle was a Pennsylvania statesman.His father was William Biddle, 3rd , and mother was Mary Scull ....
, former Vice President of Pennsylvania, and nephew of Commodore Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle (naval officer)
Nicholas Biddle was one of the first five captains of the Continental Navy, which was raised by the Americans during the American Revolutionary War.-Early life:Nicholas Biddle was born in Philadelphia....
. He attended the common schools before entering and graduating from Princeton College. At the outbreak of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, Biddle enlisted in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and was appointed a second lieutenant in the Third Artillery on July 6, 1812 and promoted to first lieutenant March 13, 1813. He was attached to the staff of General Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....
on the Niagara Frontier
Niagara Frontier
The Niagara Frontier refers to the stretch of land south of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie and extending westward to Cleveland, Ohio. The term dates to the War of 1812. This only includes the land east of the Niagara River and south of Lake Erie within the United States...
for most of the war. He became captain in the Forty-second Infantry October 1, 1813, served as assistant inspector general with the rank of major from June 19, 1817 to June 1, 1821, and commanded Fort Shelby
Fort Shelby (Michigan)
Fort Shelby was a military fort in Detroit, Michigan that played a significant role in the War of 1812. It was built by the British in 1779 as Fort Lernoult, and was ceded to the United States by the Jay Treaty in 1796. It was renamed Fort Detroit by Secretary of War Henry Dearborn in 1805...
in Detroit for some time.
After leaving the military, Biddle was appointed paymaster and Indian agent at Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
in 1821 and 1822. He was register of the land at Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in of Michigan Territory, 1823–1837; commissioner for determining the ancient land claims at Detroit, Mackinaw
Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac is a name for the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Today it is mostly within the boundaries of Michigan, in the United States...
, Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie is a city in and the county seat of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the north-eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the Canadian border, separated from its twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the St. Marys River...
, Green Bay, and Prairie du Chien
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. Its Zip Code is 53821....
.
He married Eliza Falconer Bradish (1795–1865) of New York. The couple had four children that lived to adulthood: Margaretta Falconer Biddle (1825–1913), William Shepard Biddle (1830–1901), Major James Biddle (1833–1905) and Edward John Biddle (1836–1892).
Politics and civic leadership
Biddle served as mayor of Detroit in 1827 and 1828. He was elected a Delegate from the Territory of Michigan to the Twenty-first Congress and served from March 4, 1829 until his resignation on February 21, 1831. He was president of the convention that framed the State constitution for Michigan in 1835, even though his Whig PartyWhig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
was in the minority. He ran unsuccessfully as the Whig candidate for election to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and later for Governor of Michigan
Governor of Michigan
The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. State of Michigan. The current Governor is Rick Snyder, a member of the Republican Party.-Gubernatorial elections and term of office:...
. Biddle was a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives
Michigan State House of Representatives
The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2000 federal U.S. Census.Members are elected in...
in 1841 and served as speaker, and was a Trustee of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Biddle was president of the Michigan Central Railroad
Michigan Central Railroad
The Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada...
. He also served as the first President of Farmers’ and Mechanics’ Bank, and was a bank Director from 1829 through 1838. He was also active in the civic life of Detroit, being elected Vice President of the Detroit Athenaeum, active in the Association for Promoting Female Education in the City of Detroit, and Vice President (1828–1837) and President (1837) of the Historical Society of Michigan.
Wyandotte
In 1818, Biddle acquired 1800 acres (7.3 km²) of land south of Detroit. He constructed a summer estate on the land, completed in 1835. Biddle named his estate "Wyandotte" after the Native American people who had once lived there. Biddle's home stood where the George P. MacNichol HouseGeorge P. MacNichol House
The George P. MacNichol House, also known as the Ford-MacNichol House, is a house located at 2610 Biddle Avenue in Wyandotte, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.The house is currently used as the main...
how sits.
Retirement
Biddle and his family retired to the Wyandotte estate in 1836. However, Biddle was uninterested in farming the estate, and spent much time on his estate near St. Louis, MichiganSt. Louis, Michigan
St. Louis is a city in Gratiot County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 4,494. The 2010 census estimate places the population at 7,482.-Geography:...
. In 1853, he sold the Wyandotte estate to Eber Ward of Eureka Iron, who developed the area into the city of Wyandotte, Michigan
Wyandotte, Michigan
Wyandotte is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,883 at the 2010 census, a decrease of 7.6% from 2000. Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and is part of the collection of communities known as...
. Jefferson Avenue
Jefferson Avenue (Detroit)
Jefferson Avenue is a scenic road along the eastern part of the Detroit metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan. It travels alongside Lake Erie, the Detroit River, and Lake Saint Clair. This road also provides access to many recreational facilities in the area...
, which stretches from New Baltimore
New Baltimore, Michigan
New Baltimore is a city and coastal resort community in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,405 at the 2000 census. The 2008 Census Bureau Estimate places the population at 11,346. New Baltimore is in Metropolitan Detroit....
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
to East Rockwood, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, is named Biddle Avenue through Wyandotte.
After selling the Wyandotte estate, Biddle and his wife returned to Philadelphia, and later the couple spent much time in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1859, Biddle went to White Sulphur Springs
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,444 at the 2010 census.-Geography:White Sulphur Springs is located at ....
in what is now West Virginia, for the summer, and died there. He is interred in Elmwood Cemetery
Elmwood Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit is one of Michigan's most important historic cemeteries. Located at 1200 Elmwood Street in Detroit's Eastside Historic Cemetery District, Elmwood is the oldest continuously operating, non-denominational cemetery in Michigan...
, Detroit, Michigan.
His grandson (William Shepard Biddle's son), also named John Biddle
John Biddle (US Army general)
John Biddle was career United States Army officer who became superintendent of the United States Military Academy.-Early life:...
(1859–1936) became Superintendent of the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
.